


A Different Story (Abandoned, being rewritten)

by GilbertJones



Category: Warriors - Erin Hunter
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon-Typical Violence, Canonical Character Death, Character Death, Gay Cats, M/M, Redtail still dies lmao, So many fuckin' cats to tag, at this rate i may as well rewrite the entire first book, haha - Freeform, tags will update
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-26
Updated: 2018-04-03
Packaged: 2018-11-01 20:26:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 19,710
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10929432
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GilbertJones/pseuds/GilbertJones
Summary: ((This entire first book rewrite is being abandoned as looking back on the previous chapters, choices and lot of inconsistencies, I finally decided to abandon this version of the story and am working on other rewrites and on rewriting this as a whole. I don't know when I will come back to this story, nor when chapters will be uploaded, but I am in the process of writing a very loose script of what happens in my version of the series. This will go all the up to the end of series four, and will probably take a long time to rewrite entirely, but I plan to start posting more about the rewrites soon. I plan to post a separate work detailing more about the rewrite and what I plan to do.))Rusty ventures into the forest and is ambushed by a forest cat, one who calls himself Greypaw, before a magnificent blue-gray and a large golden tabby pull the 'apprentice' away, and leave him with the offer to join their clan. Rusty is planning to join, why wouldn't he what with the weird dreams he's been having? Problem is, he has a sneaking suspicion that he's not just joining to finally be in the wild but rather that he's joining to be around a certain grey tom he'd met.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> I just really want to write Graystripe/Fireheart and NOBODY CAN STOP ME  
> This series (?) will be canon divergent, so while certain things will be the same there will be a load of differences. I can't guarantee that if this does become a series that I will update or remember to update, since it's been pretty hard for me to write the last few months, but I will certainly try if this goes beyond one chapter. Also, certain cats will have description changes, such as Longtail who I will specifically describe beyond a 'pale tabby' but as a 'pale grey tabby' and the such with other characters as I see fit. And on a final note, certain parts of the actual series might be entirely ignored and you'll see examples of those coming up soon. Other than that, I hope you enjoy reading this possible series and watching me slowly lose my mind in the notes!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> (A prologue i forgot to add a long time ago. Ooooops?)

The clearing was silent as moonlight streamed through the trees and dappled the ground silver as a patrol of cats padded silently through the forest, their eyes on mark for a mound of silver-lit rocks near the edge of a river, the silhouette of several cats standing proudly on top of the pile, their fur aglow with moonlight against the dark and silent background of night. For a few moments, nobody moved and simply stared at the intruders from just beyond the treeline, until a broad shouldered tom gave an angry screech of war and launched himself at the nearest cat, bowling them over in a single, fluid strike, and just like that the rocks exploded into battle, the clearing alive with screeching, snarling, biting cats all flailing to shove the other clan off of the rocks. A grey tom with a bright red tail stood on top of the rocks, staring down a bracken-colored tom with piercing green eyes with menace filling his mew as swiped at the tom with quick, deft paws, before finally stopping as the tom struck back with a hefty swipe to his head, leaving him stunned, before rearing up to snarl in his face.

“Oakheart! Have you no respect? Sunningrocks belong to Thunderclan!” He snarled as Oakheart bushed his fur out and smacked him squarely in the side of his face again with quick claws, before attempting to shove him off the side of the rocks. The red-tailed tom recovered quickly however, and grappled with Oakheart as he spit in the Thunderclan cat’s face.

“Sunningrocks always have and always will belong to Riverlcan Redtail!” He gave a loud screech and suddenly the rock swarmed with more cats oily from the river, the Thunderclan patrol struggling madly with the new patrol of sleek bodied cats slipping right through their claws and battering them mercilessly. A wiry brown she grappled with two Riverclan cats at the edge of the rocks, battered and scratched and heaving with the effort. The large tom who initiated the fight was fighting three cats much smaller than him, but his blows were unfocused and desperate to fend off the much faster cats, and a small black apprentice was yowling and screeching as a tom violently shook him by the scruff before dropping him and letting him scamper away. Redtail screeched to make the patrol group together tightly, in hopes of being able to better fend the Riverclan cats off, however is proved pointless as the intruders simply surged around the cats and made a barrier of spitting mouths, lashing claws and snapping teeth. The tabby tom snarled as a small Riverclan warrior lashed him across the face and made blood well up clearly across his muzzle, before he easily sent the small warrior sprawling with a hefty blow. However, two more cats took their place and snapped and hissed in menace, making him back up and snarl at the attackers.

“We have to retreat, this battle is lost Tigerclaw!” Redtail hissed to the tom, who started at him in bewilderment as he kicked an approaching tom away, before snarling and spitting in rage as a sleek, black she caught his paw between her teeth and clamped down, before being knocked away by a wiry, brown she. Redtail didn’t wait for Tigerclaw to respond, but leapt up to a high pile of rocks and let out a screech.

“Thunderclan, retreat!” He yowled, the cats all freezing in shock as Tigerclaw stared up in anger at Redtail. The battle was so easily lost! He snarled and shouldered his way back into the trees, the rest of the patrol following closely after. Redtail’s green eyes glittered with anger as he stared down at the Riverclan patrols, his a growl lacing his mew. “This rocks won’t be yours forever. Thunderclan will come back for them!” He snarled before he leapt down the rocks with scarcely a sound, slipping silently past the Riverclan warriors and disappearing through the bushes and back into the forest with hardly a rustle to disturb the bushes. After a couple of moments, Oakheart raised his head to the moon and let out a triumphant yowl towards the sky, the other Riverclan warriors joining in soon after. Redtail paused just beyond the bushes alongside Tigerclaw, both of them growling under their breath and glaring at the Riverclan patrol, before finally turning around to catch up with the rest of their battered and beaten patrol, their head and tails hung low as they caught up with their limping patrol. Tigerclaw threw one, hate-filled glance over his shoulder to the patrols of crowing Riverclan cats, before he vanished into the shadows.


	2. Wandering to the forest

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Edit 9/5/17: These chapters are not beta'd and re-reading these I have started to notice a lot of errors. If you see any errors or wish to beta chapters, feel free to message me!

Rusty walked through the dark, the moon shining brightly above him as he crept under rows of bushes, his eyes and ears on full alert as he scanned the clearing before him, before his eyes stopped on a small mouse at the center of the clearing, nibbling away at a small nut of some sort. Rusty stilled his movements entirely as he carefully stalked towards the mouse, his eyes and ears fully trained on the mouse as he stopped a few fox lengths away from the unsuspecting prey, his breath being held in his throat before he pushed out with his powerful hind legs, launching himself straight at the mouse before Rusty quickly bit the neck of the mouse before it knew what was happening, sitting up with his freshly caught food with pride. “Great job Rusty!” Rusty stopped, upon hearing the voice of another, turning around to where he heard the voice originate from. A gray tom walked into the clearing, a dead bird in his mouth. His catch, presumably.   
“How long have you been watching?” Rusty asked, putting his mouse down for a moment to look at the stranger. At least, he thought it was a stranger. The grey tom simply shrugged, walking over to drop his bird by the mouse Rusty had just caught. “I was gonna show you the bird I got but saw you were creeping up on the mouse, so I just kinda sat down and watched. It was a good catch though!” He purred, a grin evident on his face as Rusty just rolled his eyes. “We should get these back to camp before foxes steal them. Let’s get going Graypaw.” Rusty said, picking up his mouse from where it was by Graypaw’s bird. Graypaw simply nodded, quickly picking up his bird before falling in step beside Rusty on their way back to camp.

Their way back to camp…

Rusty suddenly opened his eyes, hearing the distant sound of his food dish being filled. It was another forest dream. He’s still in his house, still not in the forest, still not catching mice, still not figuring out who the gray cat really was beyond a name. Rusty stood up, stretching his limbs and parting his jaws in a big yawn as he slowly padded over to his food dish of dry pellets. As he passed his owner, they leaned down to softly scratch the top of his head before they headed back to their room. Rusty sat down in front of his food dish to eat a few mouth fulls of the flavorless pellets before finally standing back up to head out to his backyard, deciding it felt too stuffy in the house to stay in there.

Once outside, Rusty was not only grateful for the fresh air the outside world provided for him along with the nice feel of light rain against his fur, cooling him off from his apparently too warm house. Padding over to the fence of his yard, he leapt up and carefully scrabbled his way onto the edge, balancing on the edge as he stared out into the forest with wonder. He really wanted to catch a mouse, but none ever strayed too close to his home. The closest they got was about the treeline, and even that was rare since they preferred the cover of the forest with all the trees and leaf piles and the such for them to hide. He sat down with a wistful sigh, thinking back to his dream. The mouse had seemed so real, he could practically taste it. In his dream. Most certainly not in real life though. He then thought back to the gray tom or ‘Graypaw’ that kept popping up in his dreams. He’d been having the mouse catching dreams for a pretty long time, but the gray cat was much more recent. And Rusty still had yet to really find anything out about who the cat was, but in his dream they seemed to know each other well enough, if their friendliness in the dreams was any indication at the very least.

Rusty was so caught up in his thinking however that he didn’t hear Smudge leap up onto the fence right next to him and startled when he felt a paw tap his shoulder. “Sorry, did I scare you?” Smudge asked as Rusty jumped and the fur on his shoulders bristled, before calming down at realizing it was only Smudge. “Yeah, a little bit. Didn’t hear you jump up or even come outside.” Rusty admitted, Smudge just grinning. “That zoned out, huh? Whatcha thinking about?” Smudge asked as he sat down next to Rusty, a purr rumbling in the back of his throat. “Just some weird dreams I’ve been having about the forest-” “You don’t mean the mice catching dreams right? Cause those aren’t weird.” Rusty flicked his tail in annoyance before he lightly cuffed his paw over Smudge’s ear.  “Let me finish Smudge.” Smudge just snickered and grinned, sitting more attentively now.

“But yes, it is the mouse catching dream, except recently there’s been another cat popping up in my dream. It’s a gray tom and he is about the same age as me I think…” Rusty recalled the yellow eyes of the tom, the long fur and the dark gray stripe that ran from his forehead to the end of his tail, his sturdy build and his very expressional face. Smudge seemed to think for a moment before shrugging. “I got nothing, but I can keep a lookout for gray cats if you want.” Rusty just rolled his eyes, snorting slightly. “Sure, let’s interrogate every gray tom we find. ‘Hey, have you been invading any dreams lately?’ “ Smudge laughed at that, Rusty pausing to give a laugh himself. “I mean, why not? What could possibly go wrong?” Smudge asked, his eyes twinkling with mischief. “Oh I don’t know, how about everything?” Rusty retorted, a grin plastered on his face as Smudge just laughed again before straightening his ears up upon hearing some noise in his house. “Uh-oh, I think the small one is awake again. I better head back inside. I will see you tomorrow Rusty. May your dreams be filled with gray cats!” Smudged said as he jumped down from his fence and into his own yard, heading back inside of his own den to see what the ruckus was with the no-fur kit.

Rusty only smiled before his ears perked up, upon hearing the soft sounds of the forest now that he wasn’t talking to Smudge or zoning out. The rustle of the leaves in the wing, the creaking and groaning of old trees, the rustling of grass- Wait, that’s not normal. Rusty squinted through the rain, which was now getting heavier, to see something at the edge of the tree line. The figure had pointed ears, but Rusty couldn’t tell what it really was through the rain and shadows. He looked down on the other side of the fence, that would lead out to the forest, and made his decision. Carefully, he jumped down from the fence and onto the grass on the other side, watching as the figure suddenly ducked down into the bushes and Rusty quickly lost sight and hearing of them. He paused before walking forward hesitantly, his fur rising up in alarm and worry as he kept his ears perked up for any sound of the mystery creature.

Before Rusty could do anything, a loud yowl ripped from the bushes and the creature suddenly leapt out, bowling Rusty over without any issues and kicking him in the face, his claws gripping at the fur along his back and tearing at the skin beneath. Rusty snarled, trying to throw off his attacked but to no avail. Without thinking, Rusty backed up into a tree, effectively smashing his attacker between him and the tree and forcing them to let go. Rusty immediately darted away upon feeling them let go of his fur, whirling around to face his assailant. They staggered up onto their legs, the wind seemingly knocked out of them from being thrown against the tree as they looked up, yellow eyes glittering with something that Rusty couldn’t quite identify, but they looked positively feral. Slowly, they stalked out from the shadows, the moonlight illuminating their broad head - cat head, thankfully - with their yellow eyes shining, a dark grey stripe running from the middle of their head and down, out of view from what Rusty could see, and moving to sit down from outside the shadows entirely, their fur slightly matted from being thrown off and into a three, some loose bark having come off and getting tangled into their fur. Something about the cat seemed familiar though, but Rusty was unable to place what it was, until they spoke.

“You fight pretty well for a kittypet!” They suddenly changed demeanor, all threats of harm seemingly evaporated from them, their form now lax and their ears perked up, a smile splitting across their face. And Rusty instantly recognized them as the cat from their dreams, yet the only difference was that this cat seemed quite a bit younger than he looked in his dreams. “Kittypet?” Rusty echoed without real thought, still trying to remember what the cat had been called in his dreams while the cat before him rolled his eyes, giving an impatient snort at the cat’s apparent ignorance. “A kittypet, y’know? They live with twolegs and eat disgusting food that looks like rabbit droppings?” Twolegs? Is that what they call the species that is Rusty’s owner? No matter, it doesn’t affect him. “Anyways, who are you?” Rusty asked, deciding to sit down since he was still on edge, waiting for the cat to suddenly spring him again but it seemed that he had no intentions of that. 

“I’m Greypaw, from Thunderclan!” Greypaw said, grinning and swishing his tail over his paws, his eyes glittering with mischief like Smudge’s did not too long ago. “Thunderclan? What is that?” Rusty asked, inspecting the cat before him more. It seems that the dark grey stripe that starts in the center of his head trailed all the way down his back and down his tail to the tip, his fur long and slightly matted with some leaves and a stick or two from being tossed around and his face friendly, if not exasperated at Rusty’s lack of knowledge. “Y’know, Thunderclan? The clan of cats that live near here and being bordered by three other clans? Have you seriously got no knowledge about them?” Now that Greypaw describes it, Rusty is pretty sure some senile cat nearby had talked about savage cats that live in the forest and feast on bones, though this Greypaw doesn’t seem too threatening if Rusty was being honest with himself, though he did put up a pretty good fight.

“Well, I heard of savage cats in the wood but that’s it-” Greypaw snorted upon hearing that, a grin evident on his face as he looked at Rusty. “Wow, really? They call us savages? That’s pretty harsh.” Rusty stopped, looking at him. “There’s more of you in this area?” He asked, Greypaw looking at him, nodding. “Yeah, there’s Bluestar for example, who leads the clan, and Lionheart-” Greypaw stopped, his ears perked up and listening intently behind him before he suddenly stood up, shoving Rusty towards the fence. “Speaking of which, you need to get out of here now because I smell them both. Leave!” Greypaw whisper-yelled, shoving Rusty roughly towards the fence. Rusty let himself get shoved along before blindly clawing his way up the fence, launching himself into his backyard without a second thought. He stopped and went back towards the fence and pressed up against it, listening for the cats that Greypaw could apparently smell. Sure enough, he heard at least two more cats enter the clearing soon after. 

“Where is the kittypet at Greypaw?” A strong, yet neutral voice asked in a tone that reminded Rusty of a mother scolding a kit. Greypaw seemed to stammer a little, unable to think of a good response or lie before he heard footsteps approaching his fence. “I smell them in here Bluestar, and it’s strong so I know you’re still there.” Rusty’s breath stopped in his throat for a moment, pure terror flashing in his mind. These voices seemed much more mature than Greypaw’s which means that they would probably be a lot stronger than him too. And if Greypaw’s panicked reaction in getting him back to the fence and into his own yard was anything to go back, Greypaw was probably trying to keep him from getting killed or something.

“You can come out, we are not here to hurt you.” The voice said from the other side of the fence, Rusty hearing the footsteps of two other cats approach the fence. Rusty had two choices here now and they were to run back inside of his den to hide and wait out the cats, or to climb the fence and face these cats that could probably kill him without much effort if they felt like it. Rusty sighed and started to haul himself back up the fence and perched on the top, warily staring down at the cats below. Greypaw stood next to a large tom with very mussed up fur, particularly around his neck. Large, dark gold stripes rippled through his pelt and despite the long fur, Rusty could easily see lean muscle beneath his fur, which would surely make him impossible to fight against. To the right of the tom a blue-grey she cat stood tall, her eyes a piercing blue and narrowed. Even from uptop the fence, Rusty could see silver hairs all around her muzzle and a long scar parting the fur along her shoulder and, like the golden tabby tom, Rusty could see powerful muscles beneath her fur.

“Are you the kittypet that Greypaw just fought and promptly shoved over the fence?” The she-cat asked, Rusty noting that she quickly glanced over to Greypaw before looking back to him. Rusty slowly nodded, ready to bolt back inside his house if these cats tried to attack him, but the question was if Rusty could outrun these cats. “I thought so. You can come down from the fence you know, we don’t plan on hurting you in any way.” The tabby tom finally spoke up, though it sounded more akin to a growl than anything. Hesitantly, Rusty dropped down from the of his fence and in front of the three cats, glancing over to Greypaw where they made eye contact for a moment before he looked back to the ground in shame. “What is your name?” Rusty looked back at the she-cat, still wary but regardless answering. “I’m Rusty, but are you guys Bluestar and Lionheart?”  Rusty asked, seeing Greypaw lower his head more upon hearing Rusty ask that. “Yes, we are and I’ll guess that you learned that from Greypaw, but that’s no matter. What were you doing in Thunderclan territory?” Bluestar asked, Rusty sitting down before glancing back other to Greypaw. “I saw Greypaw at the edge of the border and I wanted to investigate what it was. Then he jumped me, we fought then we talked and then I ran because you showed up?” Rusty explained, aware that Greypaw was growing progressively more and more embarrassed as time went on.

Bluestar nodded a little before looking directly over to Greypaw. “Well, by the looks of it you managed to put up a decent fight at the very least, though it seems he did worse to you.” She noted, glancing over to the ripped up fur along Rusty’s shoulders and the small specks of blood dotting his back from when Rusty had basically throwing Greypaw into the tree and forced him to let go. “Rusty, it may not seem like it to you, but prey is running low in Thunderclan. I’m sure Greypaw has already explained what Thunderclan is to you,” She paused, sitting down. “We are both low on prey and low on warriors in my clan, and the nursery is unusually empty. We need more cats to train.” She stopped, glancing over to Lionheart and after a small nod of approval, looked back at Rusty. “Rusty, you’ve showed some good reflexes and you it was a good idea that you had with trying to crush the other cat to throw them off. I think you have the makings to be a warrior with a lot of training and polishing.” Rusty stared at Bluestar with wide eyes, glancing over to Greypaw who seemed equally amazed at what Bluestar was saying.

“If you would be so inclined, would you like to join Thunderclan as an apprentice and train alongside our other cats to become a warrior Rusty?” She took a few steps forwards, stopping in front of him and staring at him and though her eyes were mostly cold and calculating, Rusty could see a thin line of desperation lacing her emotions. He could feel her plight at the struggle of trying to keep her clan stable, but lacking without the means to do so. And if Rusty did take this offer, this almost surely meant leaving behind his ‘kittypet’ life and friends. “I- I’m not sure-” Rusty admitted, because although the lives of the forest cats was tempting, he knew it wasn’t going to be as easy as just living at his house. “I understand that. I will give you a day to think about it and the day after tomorrow I will send a warrior to get your answer from you in the morning. If you say yes, I’ll have the warrior lead you back to the clan and you can begin your life as a new apprentice. If you say no, we’ll leave you be and you can go back to your normal life,” Bluestar paused, her eyes suddenly cold and commanding as she stared straight at Rusty. “However, if you say yes you can never come back here, understood?” Rusty quickly nodded, actually taking a step back from Bluestar at the sudden change in her demeanor. Bluestar gave a little nod and looked over at Lionheart. “We should head back to camp, the clan is probably wondering where I’ve gone off to. You take tomorrow to think about your answer Rusty.” And with that, Bluestar swiftly turned around and started to head back to the treeline, Lionheart in tow behind her and Greypaw hesitating in the back, quickly running over to Rusty.

“If you don’t join I won’t be too sad, but know that I will gladly welcome you to the clan Rusty.” He said quickly, before turning around and running to catch up to Lionheart before they got too far ahead. Rusty wasn’t able to say anything else before the three cats disappeared into the forest and the only thing remaining was the leftover scent of the three cats mingling. Rusty turned around and hauled himself back up the fence for the fourth time before jumping back into his own yard and heading back inside. A full day to think of his choice, a choice between his normal life or leaving it behind for something new. He would be leaving his friends behind, his home behind,  _ everything  _ behind. How would Smudge handle it? He’d probably be fine, but he’d be sad. And his owners? They would be worried sick, but they would probably get a new cat after some time. Not to mention that he would not be in the safety of his own den anymore with his owners, always able to rely on a full dish of food, gross as it may be it was still food. But, if he stayed here he would still have those dreams most likely and he wouldn’t get the thrill of wandering wherever he wanted and whenever he wanted, not mention that he’d grow fat and senile like the cranky old cats that lived around him. And what were the chances he would see Greypaw again?

I mean, not that Greypaw was super important, but he was friendly and he seemed desperately hopeful that Rusty would join. Maybe he was lonely? That would suck, Greypaw was a nice cat overall if he wasn’t ambushing you. No, he was probably popular. Maybe he just liked Rusty especially or something. Regardless, Rusty had a full day to mull it over, and though Rusty would back and forth many times, he had a feeling that he was going to leave to join the clan cats. Though, he was worried that his choice wasn’t just to gain a new life, but that a certain grey cat had something to do with his decision.


	3. Decisions, decisions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rusty has to make up his mind about whether he is going to leave for a new life in the forest, along with all the hardships that come with it, or if he would stick to his easy life with his friends, no struggles whatsoever but also a lack of freedom that he so desired? The decision is hard to make, but Rusty knew what the answer was going to be right from the start no matter what.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (Sorry that I haven't updated in almost a month and that this chapter is only about half the length of the previous one! I have been pretty busy with school and haven't had much motivation to write more chapters! Hopefully the next chapter will be longer.)

_ If you don’t join I won’t be too sad, but know that I will gladly welcome you to the clan Rusty.  _ The words of Greypaw echoed in Rusty’s head all night and the next morning as he ate his food - Was the food always this bland? - and thought over his decision. He didn’t need to give an answer till tomorrow morning, but he was till anxious to give an answer of yes or no. If he says yes, he leaves this life behind and joins these forest cats and their hard life, but he can experience the joys of the forest, learn to catch mice, be free to go where he wanted without a ‘twoleg’ - Much better name than no-fur in Rusty’s opinion - dictating when he leaves. He would be completely free and with other wild cats who lived just as free as him. On the other paw, If he says no, he just goes back to his normal life with the other ‘kittypets’ - what kind of name is that anyways? - and Smudge-

_ Oh god, I would be leaving Smudge behind.  _ Rusty hadn’t even started to think about how this would affect the cats and ‘twolegs’ all around him if he left. How would his sister, Princess, do on her own without her brother there? What would Smudge do, what with his best friend leaving? How would his owners feel if their cat up and left suddenly? Would they all be okay?  _ Think logically Rusty. Your owners could easily replace you.  _ Rusty thought to himself as he mulled it over some more. Princess would probably be okay in hindsight, since she didn’t live particularly close to Rusty so the visits were rare anyways. And his owners had a cat before Rusty who passed away due to old age, so chances are that if Rusty left his owners might be sad for a little while, but in the end they would probably get a new kitten. But what about Smudge? He can’t just up and replace his best friend, and he lives right next to Rusty so he would probably be the first to notice Rusty’s disappearance if he decided to leave for the wild.

Rusty walked over to the door, waiting for his owners to open the door before he walked into the backyard, jumping up onto the fence and into Smudge’s yard. If he chose to leave, he needed to warn Smudge and say goodbye, since he was already told that he couldn’t come back here if he joined. This would be his last chance to talk to Smudge if he said yes and he wanted it to count. The sun rose just a little bit higher, barely peeking over the top of the fence by the time Smudge came outside, looking pleasantly surprised to see Rusty sitting in his yard. “Hey Rusty? You need something buddy?” Smudge asked, walking over to the orange tom and purring as Rusty internally cringed. This would break Smudge’s heart and he had to be tactful about what he said. “Hey Smudge… I… I have something I need to… To tell you.” Rusty cringed even more, visibly now most likely, at his stuttering as Smudge’s face fell, looking worried now and even a tad bit scared. “What is it Rusty?” Smudge asked, stepping closer to Rusty with much concern glimmering in his eyes as Rusty struggled to find the right words to say to Smudge.

“Well… I met the gray… The gray cat in my dreams…” Rusty started slowly, Smudge’s expression relaxing as he just snorted a little, rolling his eyes. “You had me seriously worried there pal! That’s good to know though! You find out his name?” Smudge asked, Rusty actually choking for a moment at how relaxed and happy Smudge looked right now. There was no way to beat around this, he had to be direct about what he was saying, but it was going to be hard. “Well, there’s more to it… Graypaw was accompanied by two other cats… their leader and some other strong cat…” He started, pausing for a moment before he continued. “They invited me to leave here and join their clan.” Smudge’s expression fell once again, but his expression was much different this time around and Rusty had a hard time meeting his eyes. He looked shocked, scared and... Sad. “What?” Rusty had to look at his paws now, he really couldn’t meet Smudge’s face. Smudge’s voice wavered, what with him obviously trying to keep his composure as best as he could but he was struggling.

“I haven’t decided yet but.. If I do leave I wanted to tell you in advance. They said I couldn’t come back here so I wanted to talk to you at least once more in the event I do leave…” Rusty felt himself finder it harder and harder to talk as time went on, aware that Smudge was losing his composure fast. “But… But why would you want to leave?” Smudge’s voice cracked and Rusty felt himself actually start to shake, aware that Smudge was probably crying now. He still couldn’t meet his face though, he knew that if he wanted to leave he wouldn’t be able to if he saw just how broken down his friend was. “Smudge, I don’t belong here. This isn’t the life for me.” Rusty’s voice was barely above a whisper at this point, his throat choking up as he tried to explain to Smudge. However, he knew that even if he found the right words as to why he wanted to leave, he wouldn’t be able to get them out. Rusty heard Smudge take in a shaky breath before he blinked in surprise - when did Rusty start crying? - to feel Smudge wrap his paws around Rusty. “I understand what you mean. I don’t think you belong here either. If you really need or want to leave, I won't stop you.” Rusty was stunned to silence, finally looking up to look at Smudge’s face. His eyes were starting to become pink from the crying, tear tracks visible in his fur but his eyes did show empathy for Rusty. 

Rusty nodded slowly, the mottled tom finally breaking away from Rusty to stare at him. “I won't change your mind, regardless of if you choose to stay or leave Rusty. I just hope you never forget me.” Smudge said solemnly, Rusty only being able to numbly nod again to his friend. “I don’t leave until tomorrow if I choose to leave.” Rusty quietly told his friend, hoping that maybe they could hang out at least for a little while before Rusty made his choice. He was surprised to see Smudge shake his head, looking like the decision was just as hard for him as it was for Rusty. “I don’t think we should be around each other too much longer until your mind is made. It will only muss up your choice.” Smudge finally said, opening his eyes again to look Rusty dead in the eyes. And as much as the idea pained Rusty, to be separated from his best friend, he knew he was right. It might make it harder for Rusty to leave and he won’t ever get this chance again. “I understand. I’ll be in your yard again tomorrow to tell you what my choice is.” Rusty sighed, standing back up to get ready to head back to the fence. 

Once at the foot of the fence, Rusty crouched down and leapt up to balance momentarily on the top of the fence, before sliding back down into his own yard, out of view. Smudge turned around, trying to ignore the weight in his paws and how tight his throat felt. He knew that Rusty didn’t belong here, and Smudge only wanted what was best for him. He knows that Rusty needs the freedom he seeks and he finally has a chance for it. And though Smudge hopes that Rusty leaves for the forest where he’ll be happy, he knows that he won't be able to watch him leave if he does. It’s too hard to watch someone you love leave.

Rusty spent a long time just sitting in his yard and for the first time in forever, everything felt foreign to him. It was just like when he first came to his new home, but nothing felt friendly like it did then. The yard felt small and cramped, the fences felt like a great wall keeping him in, the shrubbery felt fake and the grass felt like it was stabbing his paws where he stood. Nothing felt or looked the same anymore, it all felt artificial. Unlike the forest just beyond his fence, with lush, green grass, towering trees, no borders, bushes with fragrant flowers or thorns. Everything was alive in the forest and more importantly, everything was so  _ real.  _ Rusty sat down, thinking long and hard about his decision. Would he stay or would he leave? No matter how Rusty diced it up though, he knew what the answer was from the very start. He couldn’t stay in a place like this, he had too much spirit to stay holed up in a small house and small yard. He was going to leave for the forest cats and start himself a new life with the wild cats of the ‘clans’. And though he would be leaving Smudge and his sister behind, he knew they would be able to manage. And if they could do good enough without Rusty, then Rusty could certainly be without them and join Thunderclan. 

Having made up his mind, Rusty headed back inside of his den, ready to give his answer to whomever would pick him up tomorrow. And first thing tomorrow, he would tell Smudge he was leaving. Hopefully, Smudge would relay the message on to his sister so that she would know where her brother has gone off to. Once back inside, Rusty went back to his bed to rest, considering he wouldn’t have anything to do for the rest of the day while he waited for tomorrow. At least once he joined the clan, he would have Graypaw there to welcome him.


	4. Moving on

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rusty has made his final choice to leave his comfortable kittypet life behind to join Thunderclan and build a new life for himself. Problem is, Rusty was unprepared for the amount of prejudice he was going to receive from the other cats simply for having been a kittypet. As far as Rusty knows, Greypaw is his only friend in his new life now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally got another chapter in, sorry it took so long! My computer's hard drive died and I was unable to write for a long time but I finally finished chapter three! I'm trying to get back to three-thousand words per chapter, but this is only at 2.3k so it might take some time. Until then, I hope you enjoy the new chapter!
> 
> (Un-beta'd)

It felt like day would never end, seemed like the sun crept ever so slower than usual across the sky as Rusty waited for the next morning impatiently so that he could finally leave for Thunderclan. Rusty had woken up stupidly early and had been unable to fall back asleep, so he was incredibly disappointed to see the sun wasn’t even above the fence yet. Regardless, he had to say goodbye to Smudge before he left permanently, and Smudge was known for staying up at ungodly hours of the day for reason unknown to Rusty. Once outside, Rusty jumped up onto the fence and balanced on top to look into Smudge’s yard, but was surprised when Smudge wasn’t there. Softly landing down into his yard, he looked in through the glass door but didn’t see Smudge anywhere inside. Where was he? Didn’t he want to say goodbye to his friend before he left? Was he  _ avoiding  _ seeing Rusty? “Smudge? Buddy are you in there asleep?” Rusty meowed loudly at the door, waiting for a response but disappointed to hear nothing from inside the den. Not even the tiny no-fur seemed to stir from within. Was Rusty not going to have one last chance to say goodbye to Smudge before he left? “Rusty? Are you awake yet?” Rusty jumped a little to hear a voice outside of the fence. It was a voice he didn’t recognize, which meant it was probably the cat from ‘Thunderclan’ there to pick him up and take him back to the clan.

He made one last, sorrowful glance towards Smudge’s seemingly empty house before he clambered back up the fence to perch on the top, looking down to see a white tom with short fur and yellow eyes looking at him after he had hauled himself up the fence. “There you are! You are Rusty right?” The white tom asked as Rusty jumped down from the top of the fence to stand in front of him, the burly tom looking him over as if to inspect the new to-be warrior. And Rusty supposed that he probably was, considering he was a warrior to-be. “Yes I am, Who are you though?” Rusty asked, cocking his head to the side. He wasn’t one of the cats he’d met two nights ago, but he did share a similar scent to them all. Did all Thunderclan cats share a similar scent? Probably makes it much easier to tell who is who. Greypaw did mention other clans. Did they always have different scents? When did they all change?

“I am Whitestorm. I was told to pick you up if you wished to join our clan,” Whitestorm introduced himself politely, even quirking his mouth into a small smile at Rusty’s bluntness. “And it seems you’ve made up your mind. You ready to leave?” Whitestorm asked, flicking his ear towards the den as if asking if he was sure he was going to leave or if he had any last goodbyes to make. Considering Rusty wouldn’t have the time to visit his sister to tell her goodbye, Smudge wasn’t answering him and his owners never understood a word he said, frustratingly enough, he didn’t really have anymore goodbyes to give. “No. I am ready to leave whenever you are, Whitestorm.” Rusty finally answered, watching as Whitestorm gave a small nod of understanding, although Rusty did see his eyes briefly flick over to the yard Rusty had jumped from. Did he know it wasn’t his den?

“Well, alright… I guess we should be on our way then.” The white tom replied, Rusty watching in awe as Whitestorm stood up and shook his fur a little, parting his jaws in a massive yawn and stretching. Rusty noticed that just like the other two warriors, Whitestorm too seemed to have muscle rippling beneath his fur, Not to mention just how  _ huge  _ Whitestorm was. He had to be the size of Lionheart or something, but what’s more surprising is how small he looked while he was sitting!  _ Must have some intense training if every cat is this strong!  _ Rusty thought to himself as Whitestorm started to lead Rusty into the woods and away from his home. Rusty threw one last glance over his shoulder to his home before he turned back around full and headed away for the last time. “You sure you’re gonna leave?” Whitestorm asked, glancing at him as he saw Rusty watching back at his old home. Rusty only nodded, staying close to Whitestorm’s side as they progressed further and further into the forest. “I am sure. That life isn’t fit for me.” Rusty responded, dimly aware that the forest was growing progressively thicker and dense, shrubs growing bigger and more clustered feeling as they walked, well,  _ somewhere.  _ Rusty stuck as close as he could to Whitestorm without touching his fur, fearing that he might get lost if he didn’t in this vast and seemingly endless forest.  _ It’s almost exactly like my dream though. _ Rusty mused to himself idly, as he remembered the towering oaks that surrounded him and that mouse in his dream, the dense shrubbery hiding him from his prey, the clearing full of tree nuts just begging for some unsuspecting prey to take them.  _ The gray cat…  _ Rusty thought to himself as he glanced over while he and Whitestorm walked, surprised to see a large sandy clearing while walking.

“Hey, what’s that big ol’ clearing over there?” Rusty asked as Whitestorm looked to where Rusty was looking, purring slightly at the question. “Glad you asked. That there is the sandy hollow, where apprentices and warriors alike train new techniques or shape up on old ones. It’s perfect because if someone gets tossed around, they hit soft sand instead of a tree, a thorn bush, or just hard, forest ground.” Whitestorm responded, Rusty looking in awe as they passed and it vanished into the lush green, out of view now. Nobody had been there at the time, but he could picture powerful warriors training viciously in hopes to protect their clan in the future.  _ Wonder if Graypaw has trained there. What has he learned?  _ Rusty thought to himself, before shaking his head. Why was he so obsessed with Graypaw? He only met him a few nights ago!  _ Actually, a few dreams ago.  _ Some traitorous part of his head decided to remind him, Rusty then viciously attempting to ignore said part of his brain. However, while deep in thought, Rusty failed to notice that Whitestorm had stopped, running into his shoulder in the process. 

“I smell a patrol nearby, stay close to me Rusty.” Whitestorm hissed quietly to him, thankfully not caring that Rusty has run into him. Rusty himself only nodded and stuck as close as possible to Whitestorm without making it creepy as they two calmly walked forwards through the ferns and underbrush. Sure enough, the small frame of a light brown tabby tom pops into view alongside a dark brown tabby she-cat with thick, glossy stripes and with glittering eyes to match, as well as a silver-gray she-cat with a frame almost as thin as the tom’s. As Whitestorm easily shoulders through some more ferns, the tom’s head quickly swivels around to face the two, his light green eyes immediately falling onto Rusty. “Who is this Whitestorm?” The tom asked, Rusty noting how this tom was also well built, he looked much better suited for running across great distances rather than fighting. That being said, Rusty still wouldn’t try and fight him right now if he decided to attack him. “This is Rusty, a kittypet with great reflexes and ample strength. Bluestar wishes to try and train him into a warrior.” Whitestorm simply stated. Straight and to the point, Rusty could respect that. The tom snorted, rolling his eyes and glowering at Rusty, with the brown she-cat only flicking her ear dismissively. She really couldn’t care about the whole thing, seeing as Whitestorm was escorting him.

“We aren’t that hard on apprentices and warriors right now. Surely we don’t need a kittypet in the clan, right?” The tom said, glancing back over to Whitestorm with a look of disgust. Whitestorm only shrugged, seemingly trying to remain neutral in this situation, perhaps to keep the tom from losing his temper and attacking Rusty. “It’s not my choice Runningwind, but you do have to admit that we have far fewer warriors, apprentices and no kits. We can’t survive like this.” Whitestorm bluntly stated and Runningwind seemed to falter. He couldn’t argue with that, could he? “I suppose… But I better not be training you kid.” Runningwind spat, glaring at Rusty once again with his green eyes sparkling like fire. “And take that stupid collar off before you get to the camp! Someone is bound to jump you if they see that stupid twoleg thing on you kid.” and with that, Runningwind flicked his tail up and the rest of his patrol left.

Rusty let out a breath he didn’t know he’d been holding and looked up at Whitestorm. “Excuse Runningwind there, he can be a bit of a sharp edge around strangers. Although he does have a point, we should get this collar off of you before we get into camp.” Whitestorm rumbled, fastening his teeth into the connecting band of his collar and carefully working it loose until it fell off of Rusty and hit the ground with a quiet ‘tink’. Rusty stared at the collar for a moment, feeling a small pang of sadness to lose the last thing he had to connect with his old life before Whitestorm started digging a hole to bury it in. Rusty decided not to linger on that too long before he started to help Whitestorm dig, both of them quickly being able to bury it while working together. “We should get moving quickly, Bluestar’s gonna start to wonder where we are.” Rusty only nodded, throwing one more glance over his shoulder to the pile of displaced dirt where his collar was buried before running to catch up with Whitestorm.

Soon enough, Rusty was standing in front of a partially hidden entrance where loads of cats could be heard from within. Whitestorm calmly walked inside, keeping Rusty behind him as they walked into a large, sandy clearing with cats bustling about. Some of them were patching the walls of the sheltered camp to close up holes, some were gathered around a tree stump and eating what looked like birds and mice, and a few smaller cats that looked about Rusty’s age were running around, playing some sort of game.Rusty immediately noticed that one of the cats was Greypaw, who was happily chasing a sandy-colored she-cat before he was tackled by a dark brown tom with a few dark stripes rippling across his pelt here and there.

Once Greypaw got back up he immediately noticed Whitestorm and Rusty, a huge grin splitting across his face as he bounded over to where the two were, purring as he bumped his head against Rusty’s shoulder. “Rusty, you decided to join! I am so glad!” Greypaw said with a big smile, Rusty being slightly taken back by Greypaw’s friendliness. Kinda touchy-feely too, which was weird and made Rusty blush when he shouldn’t have. “Uh… Yeah I did. I couldn’t stay in that small yard anymore.” Rusty admitted, Greypaw nodding his head in solemn agreement. “Who is this? He smells like a kittypet Whitestorm!” The other three cats had come up to the group now, the sandy she-cat making a face of disgust at Rusty. He was going to have a hard time getting used to this if everybody treated him like a pile of fresh dirt.

“This is Rusty, who is joining our clan to train to be a warrior-” The brown tom spat in disdain, his amber eyes laced with hate as he glared at Rusty. “We don’t need a stupid two-leg pet in our clan! We have enough apprentice anyways!” He growled, closing in on Rusty before Greypaw quickly stepped between them both. “Calm down Dustpaw! He is actually a pretty good fighter for a kittypet! And his reflexes are really good too!” Greypaw meowed, Rusty noting how the fur on his spine was bristling. He was scared that Dustpaw was going to attack him, and when Greypaw glanced back, Rusty confirmed this when he saw the worry evident in his yellow eyes. “Oh, you’d know wouldn’t you Greypaw? Heard you got beaten by this kittypet! And to think you are actually a clan cat!” The sandy she-cat snorted, rolling her eyes before turning on her paw and stalking away, the dark brown tabby tom close behind her.

Greypaw sighed and turned around to face Rusty. “I am really sorry about them… A lot of cats are going to be like this since kittypets are generally seen as lazy.” Greypaw admitted, his fur finally laying flat again as he calmed down. Rusty could see why they thought that, most old cats didn’t do much of anything and even younger cats usually just laid about soaking up the sun. For the most part, Rusty supposed that kittypets were  _ super  _ lazy, especially when compared to a clan cat who had to work for their food and slept outside and apparently fought other cats too. “It’s okay, I have you at least, right?” Rusty asked, looking at Greypaw with a tiny bit of hope and desperation. He did say he would welcome him, why did he have to doubt Greypaw now of all times? “Of course Rusty, I will be your friend even if nobody else in the world is! To the end Rusty!” Greypaw purred, his face breaking into a big grin again. Rusty felt so relieved that this cat was his friend and not his enemy. 

“How about I show you around camp? I’m sure you have better things to do Whitestorm.” Greypaw commented, looking up to the senior warrior who shook his head. “No, not really. I don’t have patrol for awhile yet so I can go with you guys if you want. Cats will be less likely to jump Rusty anyways If I’m here with him.” Whitestorm responded, parting his jaws in a big yawn as he stood up and shook out his fur, looking down at Rusty. “I am ready whenever you two are ready to go.”


	5. Fight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rusty is starting to learn his way around the camp, but is confronted by Longtail who challenges both Bluestar's decision and Rusty himself. Despite this, Rusty is quickly able to make allies in the clan, making it obvious who he can trust and who he can't

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AAAAAA IT'S FINALLY DONE!!!  
> I kept forgetting to update so this chapter is super late!! I am so sorry for this! I'll try and get chapter five out soon, since i've already got the chapter planned and I am super excited to get started on it finally!
> 
> (Un-beta'd)

“And this is the Nursery! This is where expecting queens and queens with kits stay until those kits leave to become apprentices, although some leave sooner to go back to the Warriors’ den.” Greypaw chirped as Rusty looked on in wonder, watching as two kits play fought in front of the nursery, a dark grey she playfully swiping at golden brown tabby tom, the two laughing as they chased one another. Rusty watched in awe and adoration as they bustled around play fighting, moving on when Greypaw nudged him with his paw. “And over here we have the Warriors’ den! We aren’t allowed in here because I’m an apprentice and you’re probably going to join an apprentice as well,” Greypaw started, Whitestorm interjecting not long after. “We should probably move along quickly. We don’t need Rusty getting jumped by a warrior right now.” Whitestorm cut in behind the two, Greypaw and Rusty only nodding as they headed over to the last den he needed to see. “And this right here is the Leader’s den! This is where Bluestar sleeps and calls clan meetings from!” Greypaw mewed with a huge grin on his face, Rusty taking a moment to stare in complete awe of just how big the outcropping rock was. It was easily two or three times as large as Whitestorm or Lionheart!

“Speaking of which, we should probably let Bluestar know we’re back with Rusty. She’ll need to call a clan meeting to introduce you formally into the clan.” Whitestorm mused, walking with the two cats on each side of him as he pushed his head into the Leader’s den. “Bluestar, Rusty is here.” Whitestorm spoke quietly when addressing the she-cat, her body still as she turned around to look at him, eyes resting on Rusty by his side. “That’s good to hear. I’ll call a meeting at once.” She stated curtly, standing up and trotting outside of the den with the three cats following close after. They stopped in front of the den as Bluestar adeptly leaped up onto the rock, crawling up to the tallest point before her yowl pierced the silence. “All cats old enough to hunt, please gather for a clan meeting!” Her voice carried easily across the clearing, Rusty watching as apprentices and warriors alike came pouring out of the den to gather in front of rock, all of them starting to notice Rusty and murmur behind him. Rusty heard a cat somewhere in the front say something about rogues or loners... “As we know, Thunderclan is woefully short of kits and apprentices alike. We can’t sustain like this forever and I’ve turned to outside help to train into future warriors of the clan.” Bluestar was tactful in the way she talked from what Rusty could tell, but she didn’t even glance down at him as she continued. “Below is a cat named Rusty, who wishes to join our clan. And I believe that-” 

Bluestar stopped short as a loud scoff came from the crowd, some cats moving to the side as a pale grey tabby tom with green eyes stalked forward, stopping just short of where Rusty, Whitestorm and Greypaw where at. “Have gotten so desperate we need the help of a loner in this clan?” He snarled, glaring at Bluestar who cooly met his sharp gaze, eyes trained intently on him as he stalked around the small group. “I don’t care how desperate we are, we aren’t taking in a disgusting loner with no morale to the warrior code!” The tom snarled, thrusting his face close to Rusty’s. We wasn’t sure why he was being called a loner, he thought he was a ‘kittypet’ or something. Rusty tried to look over the tom’s shoulder, seeing that Runningwind wasn’t back yet. Only a few cats in the clan knew Rusty was a kittypet it seemed... “This isn’t your decision to make, Longtail. We need warriors to defend this clan with, and Rusty has the instinct of a natural born warrior.” Bluestar spoke calmly, although Rusty could see her tail flicking back and forth subtly in irritation from where he was so close to her. Must be frustrating for a warrior to question their own leader’s judgement. “What does that matter when they cross carelessly into other borders? We’ll have a war on our paws before this one is a warrior!” Longtail yowled, his eyes now glaring directly at Rusty. Rusty started to shrink back slightly, noticing that while this cat looked fairly young, he still looked powerful and Rusty wasn’t sure he could fight him that well. Before Rusty or Bluestar could say anything, Greypaw thrust himself between the two, glaring directly at the pale warrior. 

“Back off Longtail. Bluestar has made her choice and you shouldn’t be questioning her judgement anyways.” Greypaw growled, his tail flicking back and forth and the hair on his spine starting to bristle. Longtail snarled back, inching dangerously close to Greypaw face as his tail lashed angrily from side to side, his hackles fully raised at this point. “You’re going to defend this piece of foxdung loner Greypaw? Remember your place, your parents are siblings and you’re still an apprentice!” He snarled, Rusty watching the way Greypaw’s face started to fall upon hearing that, before he shook his fur and growled back. Rusty decided to stand up and walk beside Greypaw, fixing a weak glare onto Longtail as he felt Greypaw subconsciously move himself closer to Rusty’s side. “What, are you two going to fight me for pointing out the truth? Loners and rogues have no respect for the code or Starclan! Never have, never will!” Longtail raved, pacing back and forth angrily as Rusty noticed his claws were unsheathed by this point, leaving grooves in the sand. Greypaw seems to have noticed and was baring his teeth now, ears flattened against his head. Rusty jumped when he heard Whitestorm lean down to whisper in the kit’s ear.

“He’s obviously presenting a challenge, and judging from the way the rest of the clan looks, you’re going to have to respond.” Whitestorm whispered to the two of them, Greypaw immediately snorting and turning back to the pale grey tabby in front of them. “I’ll fight this whole clan If I need to. Rusty is staying.” He hissed, partly to Whitestorm and partly to Longtail. Whitestorm fixed his yellow eyes on Rusty as if to say ‘Well? How do you feel?’. “I won’t be leaving. I intend to train to become a warrior, and I don’t care what you have to say!” Rusty put on a brave face, trying to stand a little bit taller next to Greypaw as Longtail snarled at the two of them. “Fine. It’s two kits anyways, I can take you both no problem.” He remarked with a sneer, his tail curling like his mouth as Greypaw flexed his claws in the sand beneath him. Rusty was suddenly starting to realize what a bad mistake this was. Suddenly, Longtail leapt towards the two with a piercing screech, Rusty stuck in his place in fear when Greypaw lunged in front of the orange tom to meet Longtail’s head with his own. Rusty snapped out his daze at the solid ‘thump!’ their heads made when they collided, Longtail reeling back a small ways at the pain before Rusty and Greypaw both ran forward to latch onto Longtail’s side, Rusty really following what Greypaw was doing as the grey tom managed to balance himself on the pale tabby’s back before digging his teeth into the warrior’s scruff.

Rusty blindly lashed out his claws, wincing and actually pulling back quickly as Longtail let out a clear yowl of pain as Rusty’s claws met their mark across his face, ripping a considerable amount of his ear and tearing across his eye. Longtail tried to shake Greypaw off his back as he kept his teeth firmly in his scruff as he dug his claws into his sides. Finally, the older tom managed to throw Greypaw off of himself, but not without the apprentice tearing out clumps of his fur along the way. Longtail heaved as he swiveled around to face the two, his eyes wild and legs shaking as he stared at Rusty and Greypaw. “Kittypet.” Rusty stared at him confused before his face twisted into a smile. “You’re actually a  _ kittypet! _ ” Longtail spat before he lunged at Rusty again, knocking the wind out of Rusty as he bowled him over and dug his teeth into Rusty’s leg, quickly tossing him off to the side. Rusty hit Greypaw with a yowl, his leg burning in pain and still recovered from when he was thrown before. Greypaw and Rusty barely managed to stand up before Longtail charged at them again, Greypaw and Rusty taking a brief moment to glance at each other before saying three words to each other. “Get his paws.”

As Longtail was only a few cat lengths ahead of them, they both dove down for his front two paws, tripping Longtail and knocking him over before the two pounced on him in that crucial moment, Greypaw kicking Longtail’s face with his back paws and Rusty biting into the pale tom’s leg to make up for what he did earlier. “ENOUGH!” Everyone froze in their spot as Bluestar’s voice rang clear and loud across the clearing, Greypaw and Rusty both quickly backing off from Longtail and letting him stand up, Longtail growling at the two before being silenced by a cold glare from Whitestorm. Rusty had to keep his back leg off the ground, bleeding from where Longtail had bitten down and tossed him, and Greypaw’s eye was starting to look swollen from where Rusty accidentally landed claws first on his face, but Longtail was much worse for wear. Greypaw still had clumps of his fur between his claws and had small clumps handing off his body, his ear and face were bleeding from where Rusty had scratched him and his leg was also kept off the ground, but it wasn’t bleeding, just scraped up from Ruty’s weak bite.

Bluestar jumped down from the rock and walked over to Greypaw and Rusty, Greypaw lowering his head in shame to look at his paws and Rusty feeling obligated to do the same as Bluestar settled her gaze on him. “Greypaw, you know better than to fight your clanmates, no matter what the subject matter,” She started, Greypaw shuffling his paws slightly in the sand out of embarrassment. “But, you both fought well. You were right, Longtail has no right to question my decision. It’s up to your mentor if they should punish you or not, but I don’t see punishment as particularly necessary in this instance.” She finished, Greypaw looking up at her in surprise as she gave him a small smile before turning back to Rusty. “And you fought well, both on your own and alongside Greypaw. That last trick where you tripped Longtail was good and I can see you two working well in the future. I’ll see to it you two train alongside each other.” Bluestar purred as Greypaw took this as initiative to move over to where Whitestorm was, sitting down with a big smile on his face and a loud purr starting to form in his throat from what Rusty could hear. “Rusty, you’ve shown me twice now that you can fight like a warrior with some refining, and your instinct and reflexes are like that a natural born warrior,” She paused for a moment before she smiled down at Rusty, a genuine, warm smile. “From this day forward, until you receive your warrior name, you will be known as Firepaw in honor of your fiery pelt and brilliant reflexes as shown when you fought Greypaw and Longtail.”

Firepaw sat there in stunned silence as the parts of the clan cheered his name, particularly Whitestorm and Lionheart, before he felt Greypaw run up to him and start rubbing his face against his again, purring so loudly that Firepaw could actually feel it. “You’re a warrior Firepaw! You get to stay with us!” Greypaw sounded a little choked up and Firepaw was starting to feel the same, purring and bumping his head against Greypaw’s too as Whitestorm walked up to the pair of them, a faint smile on his face. “Alright, back it up Greypaw.” Whitestorm purred as he sat down next to Greypaw, his eyes soft as he waited for Bluestar to announce his mentor. “Whitestorm and Lionheart will both help with mentoring Firepaw. The meeting is dismissed!” She finished curtly before heading back into her den with barely a sound besides the rustling of the lichen that covered the entrance. The clan quickly started to disperse before Firepaw noticed Longtail limping towards a nice, shaded den towards the back of the clearing, disappearing inside and out of view. “Hey- Where did Longtail go?” Firepaw asked, glancing at Greypaw with confusion evident in his eyes. “Hm? Oh, that’s the medicine den! Spottedleaf works with injured and sick cats to help them get better…” Greypaw trailed off, staring intently at Firepaw’s bleeding leg before he spoke up. “Now’s a great time to meet her! LET’S GO!” Before Firepaw could say anything, he was being shoved across the clearing by Greypaw, much to his confusion, with an amused but somewhat concerned Whitestorm in tow.

As soon as Firepaw was a few cat lengths away from the den, he was immediately hit with the strong and pungent smell of various herbs and ointments from within, relishing the cool shade the inside of the den offered from the sun high in the sky currently. Once inside, he could see an angry tortoiseshell tending to Longtail’s various wounds, rubbing ointments in the patches where Greypaw ripped out his fur and he seemed to have leaves of some sort wrapped around his back leg and head in place with cobwebs, as well as some herbs pressed against his scruff from where Greypaw had bitten him. She messily rubbed her paws off on a patch of grass nearby before grabbing some more leaves and cobwebs to start treating his torn ear and scratched up face. “Uh- Hey, Spottedleaf?” Spottedleaf finally noticed them, whirling around to face the two apprentices with surprise in her eyes before she quickly turned back to Longtail and finished up fixing up his face, handing him a small, black seed and instructing him to eat it before heading over to where the two of them were at.

“Hello Greypaw! Who is this and why are you two here?” Firepaw nearly laughed at just how blunt and almost frazzled she seemed, suppressing a laugh as Greypaw  spoke up. “Me and the new apprentice, Firepaw, got into a fight with sir fuzzbutt over there,” Greypaw stopped to glare at Longtail from over Spottedleaf’s shoulder, getting a glare and a hiss right back, before he continued. “And Firepaw’s leg is bleeding from where Longtail bit and threw him. My eye also got messed up from when he landed on my face with his claws out.” He gave a dry huff of laughter while Spottedleaf groaned and rolled her eyes at the two. “You can’t stay out of trouble for  _ one  _ day, can you Greypaw?!” She hissed, glaring at him with piercing amber eyes before she sighed and headed towards a quiet corner of the den. “Alright, come here you two! You can tell me more about yourself while I patch you up if you want, Firepaw.” She said as Firepaw and Greypaw sat down next to each other, Spottedleaf starting on Firepaw since he was bleeding. “Well I came from a… ‘kittypet’ place? Whatever that is?” Firepaw mumbled out, the word kittypet still strange on his tongue. “And Bluestar wanted to make me a warrior because I had good skills for shading up to become a warrior. So, i’m here now. Sitting in a medicine den, with a screwed up leg and a screwed up friend.” Spottedleaf stopped wrapping up Firepaw’s leg to laugh a little bit, grinning up at Firepaw with delight sparkling in her eyes. “Oh we’re going to be great friends, I can tell!” She purred as she sat back up. “Anything else? Greypaw said you got thrown.” She asked as she shuffled through her herb stores more as if looking for something to give him.

“Oh- My shoulder hit Greypaw pretty hard… I think I pulled the muscles in it?” Before Firepaw was finished, Spottedleaf was holding small, dark green leaves and biting them slightly so that they oozed juices, pressing them against his shoulder and quickly wrapping cobwebs around him to hold the leaves in place. “Wrenched shoulder. Should be fine. Stay off your leg for all of tomorrow, it’s nothing too bad but it looks sprained to me and we don’t want it to get worse than it already is. Tell me if it starts bleeding again, Longtail ripped the tissue up pretty bad.” Spottedleaf was talking so fast, Firepaw barely registered what she said. “Are you in any pain right now?” She asked, Firepaw shaking his head a little as she quickly went to inspecting Greypaw’s eye. “Starclan help me… You always have to do dumb dirt like this, don’t you?” Spottedleaf muttered as she grabbed two small black seeds and a small, light green leaf before crushing them up with a rock to make an ointment, carefully gathering some of it up so it would drip off her paw. “Hey- Watch your profanities.” Greypaw joked, before yelping as Spottedleaf smacked under his chin to force him to look upright, carefully letting the ointment drip into his eye. “Blink several times until you don’t feel it anymore. Don’t rub at your eye, I don’t care how much it itches because if you rub at your eye and it gets infected, I’m not helping you.” Greypaw just wheezed and rolled his eyes, grinning back at her. “You’re the boss!” He purred, making a mock kissy face as her before getting a facefull of her tail as she snorted at his ridiculous nature. “Whatever, get outta here you two. Feel free to visit whenever you want to, as long as i’m not busy!” She said as Greypaw helped Firepaw to his feet, trying not to wince as the soreness he was starting to feel in his shoulder as he leaned on Greypaw on the way out, trying to keep his foot off the ground. “And good luck with your training Firepaw! You have a friend in me whenever needed!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I already said I planned to change a lot of stuff from the original story, but it wasn't really noticeable changes until this chapter  
> You'll notice Spottedleaf has an actual personality now, instead of her bland 'oh firestar, i'll love your kits as if they where my own!' bullcrap, because they talked like, what, three times before she died? So boom, personality!  
> (And no, she doesn't love Firepaw in this, she is a lesbian in my story. :) )


	6. Impressions count!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Firepaw is starting to make first impressions on the clan, being formally introduced to more cats only to be met with more hostility, not to mention his first few minutes into the clan have him facing his first dead cat. Firepaw has to question himself and his decision to join Thunderclan, and if it was truly the best decision for him to make in the end.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for posting this months after the last update, it's been hard for me to focus on writing these lately but i'm trying get back into the swing of things!
> 
> (un-beta'd)

Firepaw stumbled out of the Medicine den, still smiling at how friendly Spottedleaf had been and how casual her interactions with the two apprentices was. She seemed incredibly laid back and personally, Firepaw was excited to talk to her more at some point. She had a good sense of humor too! Firepaw broke out his thoughts when Greypaw flicked his tail over the other’s nose, smirking at him.  
“Still thinkin’ about Spottedleaf? I got bad news for you, not only is she a medicine cat, but she much prefers girls.” Greypaw purred to him, making Firepaw flustered as he shook his fur out and glared at the grey tom.  
“I wasn’t thinking about her like that! I just think she’s funny and want to talk to her more! To become her friend, you know?” He huffed, feeling himself prickle with embarrassment under his fur. Greypaw purred and nudged Firepaw’s shoulder lightly, smiling at him.  
“Didn’t mean to offend, just thought I’d warn ya before you get your hopes up.” He mewed simply before the grey apprentice stopped in the middle of the clearing. “I guess the only thing left in the camp to show you now would be,” Greypaw paused to look around the clearing before his eyes settled on a large, hollow tree fallen on it’s side, towards a cozier corner of the camp. His eyes lit up as he strutted over with Firepaw still leaning on him slightly, a grin on his face. “The Elders’ den!” He purred as his tail shot straight up in the air and he trotted over happily to the fallen, mossy log, ducking inside with Firepaw right on his heels. It took Firepaw a moment for his eyes to adjust to the gloom, but he realized he could see the huddled shapes of a few different cats, all of which seemed fairly old. Firepaw walked closer and started to pick out the shapes of four different cats all curled up together and picked up the soft sound of a cat’s tongue grooming over someone’s pelt.  
“It looks like Smallear is doing something else right now, but the rest of the Elders are here! This one here is Dappletail!” Greypaw mewed as a pretty tortoiseshell looked up from where she was grooming a dark brown tom to look at Firepaw, narrowing her eyes in confusion. The dark brown tom also looked up to stare at the newcomer once Dappletail stopped grooming him, looking between Greypaw and Firepaw with thinly veiled confusion.  
“Greypaw, who is this? I’ve never seen him before!” Dappletail meowed at them, shuffling around so she was sitting upright to get a better look at the new apprentice. The other two cats shuffled around to get a good look at the new cat as well, a pale grey she and a black and white tom it looked like.  
“That one right there is Patchpelt. The light grey she beside him is One-eye and the big, brown tom is Halftail.” Greypaw introduced the rest of the elders happily, Firepaw shuffling around nervously as the cats all stared at him before Patchpelt finally spoke up.  
“Aren’t you the loner who joined today?” Patchpelt mewed, quirking his head at the other. “I heard Bluestar call your name. Firepaw, wasn’t it?” He asked with a purr rumbling deep in his throat. Firepaw nodded in slight embarrassment, ducking his head a little while Greypaw proudly puffed his chest out from where he was beside him.  
“Yeah, and he managed to beat Longtail in a fight!” Greypaw nudged Firepaw, making him stumble slightly as he flushed at the praise and ducked his head lower, aware that the elders were all staring at him with more interest now.  
“Greypaw helped me a lot. I didn’t do much…” Firepaw mumbled, hearing Greypaw purr from where he was beside the other.  
“Clearly not, especially if Bluestar let you join. And with a name like Firepaw!” Halftail rasped, amusement lighting his gaze as he stared at the two apprentices. “I can tell you’re going to make a great warrior Firepaw. You’re going places.” Firepaw flushed at all the praise surrounding him, hearing the other elders murmur in agreement with him. Greypaw nudged him again, giving him a small smile before Firepaw heard a thin wail ring through the camp. Both the apprentices and the elders turned around in confusion before the apprentices rushed out the den in confusion, the elders following closely behind as Firepaw spotted a grey tom with small ears wailing in the middle of the camp.  
“Who is that, and what is he doing?” Firepaw whispered to Greypaw, who didn’t get the chance to respond before Halftail padded up beside the two of them.  
“That’s Smallear. Sounds like he’s heard the battle patrol coming back, and about time too!” He snorted as he trotted towards the entrance in anticipation, other cats crowding around eagerly as well. The entrance trembled before a small, sleek cat shot through the entrance and gracefully tripped his way over to highrock, his fur bushed out and eyes wide with terror as he stood there silently for a couple of seconds, cats swarming around the kit and bombarding him with questions. Firepaw managed to pick up the name Ravenpaw, and stood up on his hind paws in an attempt to get another look at the apprentice. Without warning, the small apprentice suddenly started to screech at the top of his lungs, overwhelming all the noise inside the camp.  
“Redtail is dead!” He wailed in a shrill voice over and over again as a ripple passed through the clan, cats looking around in confusion and fear. Firepaw could hear cats murmuring to one another in shock, as if trying to understand what was going on. “Redtail… Is-” Suddenly, the cat collapsed on the ground, seemingly having passed out and from what Firepaw could see from craning his neck up above the swath of bristling pelts, he could make out a sizable gash along the cat’s side. He seemed around the same age as Firepaw and Greypaw too, which made Firepaw’s pelt prickle with unease at the thought of such a young cat being out in what sounded like an intense battle. Spottedleaf rushed out into the clearing and, with the help of a pretty white she with blue eyes, lifted the apprentice up onto Spottedleaf’s back to carry him to the medicine den.  
“Everybody, clear out! The patrol will return soon, and if Redtail is dead they’ll need space and help!” Spottedleaf’s voice rang out clearly around the camp and everyone quickly busied themselves by clearing out the entrance or being prepared to help the cats back into the camp. The entrance quivered once again, Firepaw feeling his tail flick back and forth in apprehension as a the broad head of an impressive looking tom shouldered through the brambles, a limp tortie tom held carefully in his jaws as he moved silently through the camp towards the middle of the clearing. Dark stripes rippled down the tom’s entire body alongside ugly scars crisscrossing his face, flank and shoulders. Wordlessly, he lowered the tom down in the clearing and gazed around the camp in a single, fluid motion.  
“You heard Ravenpaw. Redtail is dead.” His voice was almost lost in the ensuing clamor that followed, a loud flurry of questions and demands for answers ensuing from almost every voice in camp. Even Greypaw was up on his feet, yowling for answers about the cat’s death. The tom didn’t bother trying to raise his voice about the chaos of voices, instead sitting there oddly calm amongst the turmoil and simply wrapping his thick, bushy tail around his paws.  
“Quiet!” The clearing fell dead quiet as everybody whipped around to see Bluestar stalk out from her den and into the clearing, her eyes falling onto the dead warrior and the tabby tom sitting calmly beside him. She walked over quietly, everybody’s eyes trained on her as she sat down by Redtail and buried her nose into his fur. “What happened, Tigerclaw? It was only two warriors.” Her voice was barely above a whisper as she stared up into the tabby’s amber eyes as he sighed quietly and addressed the whole clearing.  
“It was a trap. More cats from Riverclan showed up. A whole patrol of them.” More clamor ensued immediately, drowning out the last of Tigerclaw’s words as Firepaw dugs his claws into the dirt in horror. Another cat killed this warrior? Firepaw jumped when he felt Greypaw lay his tail over his shoulders and shuffle closer to Firepaw so they were side by side, as if trying to calm him down some. But when Firepaw looked up at Greypaw’s face, he could see a similar dawning horror shown clearly on his face as he stared up ahead at Tigerclaw. Once the clearing died down, the large tom finally continued.  
“Oakheart killed Redtail on the Sunningrocks. Whether on accident or on purpose, I can not be sure. However,” Firepaw felt his heart stop as Tigerclaw met his eyes and stared him down, as if the tom was personally addressing addressing him now. And Firepaw realized in cold horror how the tom had gotten his name as long, razor sharp claws gouged the sandy hollow beneath his paws. “A deputy for a deputy only seems fair.” He snarled, suddenly up on his paws and his tail lashing violently behind him. The clan broke off into a loud clamor again, pressing for more information on why this had happened, as if he was supposed to know. Tigerclaw only dipped his head as Bluestar fixed him with an icy glare.  
“Oakheart is a loyal warrior to his clan. He wouldn’t kill unless absolutely necessary Tigerclaw.” She grit the words out through clenched teeth, his tail flicking back and forth subtly as she stood back up to face the tom, who faced her without flinching a bit of the iciness in her voice. He simply shrugged and flicked his tail back towards the dead ‘deputy’.  
“Maybe so, but what happened has happened, and we can’t change that. Let’s focus on the present and what we do now.” He mewed as Bluestar turned back to the tom and sighed, her shoulders sagging as she sat beside the tom to start grooming her fur flat. Firepaw watched as the elders stood up and walked over to follow suite, Spottedleaf finally leaving her den to trail over to where the tom was and sit beside him sadly. Her eyes shone with obvious grief as Bluestar laid her tail across the she’s shoulders to comfort her as they both held a silent vigil for the dead tom.  
“Another cat killed him?” Firepaw echoed as he stared at the limp body of Redtail, watching as the cats finished grooming his fur down and started to rub pungent plants against his pelt, as if to mask the choking scent of death that steadily filled the quiet clearing. Now that his fur had been groomed down, Redtail almost looked like he was sleeping, if not for the ugly gash that ripped across his neck. The obvious wound of death. Greypaw only nodded and shivered slightly from where he was beside Firepaw.  
“It’s against the code to kill unless absolutely necessary, but sometimes it happens on accident. I imagine Oakheart wouldn’t do this on purpose.” He spoke quietly before his amber eyes flicked to the shady medicine den as Spottedleaf got back up and headed towards the medicine den, pulling Tigerclaw along beside her to inspect his wounds as well. “We should go check out Ravenpaw, especially since he’s one of our denmates.” Greypaw sounded cheery, but the smile and bounce in his step seemed forced, as if he was trying to comfort Firepaw or otherwise keep him calm. Was he afraid he would run away after seeing a dead cat, barely a day into his new clan life? As if! Firepaw thought crossly, but glancing back at Redtail made him feel cold and small again, shivering at the deep gash in his neck. Firepaw had no intentions of going back to his previous life, but he made a promise to himself that he would never kill. He could never take another cat’s life like that.  
The two apprentices sat just outside the den as they heard Spottedleaf fussing around from inside, and the occasional biting remark to Tigerclaw. Firepaw felt a wave of admiration flow through him at the she’s sharp tongue, even to a strong warrior like Tigerclaw. He was easily twice her size, and yet she treats everybody the exact same! She’s a good cat. Firepaw thought to himself before he was suddenly pushed to the side by Greypaw quickly, looking up in slight fear as Tigerclaw suddenly loomed over the two of them.  
“Get back here, I’m not done treating you!” Spottedleaf’s mew was sharper than stone as she rushed back outside the den and to his side, before realizing why he’d left as he gazed coldly at Firepaw. He’d never felt so small in his life, under the scrutinizing, amber eyes of Tigerclaw. “Oh, the new apprentice? That’s Firepaw, he joined today.” She flicked her tail over Tigerclaw’s ear to get him to turn back towards her, before she quickly smeared a strong smelling ointment over the fresh scratch marks littering his muzzle. He glared at her before turning back to Firepaw and Greypaw with disinterest.  
“A loner, huh? We aren’t that low on warriors are we?” His voice was low and sounded more like a growl than anything, before Spottedleaf smacked the tom with her paw. He snarled and turned back towards her, but she didn’t flinch and only glared right back.  
“Be nice to him, you’ll be happy to hear he beat Longtail alongside Greypaw here! He’s got promise!” She mewed sharply, flicking Firepaw and Greypaw a small, warm smile before she stood up and thrust her muzzle dangerously close to Tigerclaw. “So give them a little of respect, or i’m making you clean up the elders for a moon!” She snapped, Firepaw seeing Tigerclaw’s muscles tense and flex under his pelt and was worried he would spring the medicine cat before he snorted and stood up, stalking back towards the Warriors’ den. Spottedleaf shook out her fur and rubbed the last of the ointment off her paws in the grass nearby before looking back at the two apprentices.  
“So, what brings you two back already? You guys get into another fight?” She asked in a semi-snarky voice, but Firepaw could see the humor in her eyes. The two of them shook her head, Greypaw smiling up at the medicine cat.  
“No, I wanted to introduce Firepaw to Ravenpaw, since they’re gonna be denmates and whatnot!” He purred as Spottedleaf scowled at them slightly before sighing and shooing them away.  
“Later, but Ravenpaw needs rest right now. Check back tomorrow.” Spottedleaf sighed as Greypaw protested, but it went ignored as she lightly cuffed her paw around his ear and smiled at them. “And if Tigerclaw gives you any trouble, don’t hesitate to tell me.” She purred as she started to walk back towards the den, until Firepaw finally spoke up.  
“Thank you for standing up for me! It was amazing how you stood up to Tigerclaw!” He was almost embarrassed when his voice came out as barely more than a squeak as Spottedleaf turned to face them and only smiled at the two apprentices warmly again.  
“Don’t mention it. He may have a short temper and sharp claws, but he wouldn’t dare attack a medicine cat.” She purred as she disappeared into the shade of the medicine den, leaving Firepaw feeling even more admiration for the medicine cat. He really wanted to become her friend, she seemed like such a nice and funny cat! Not to mention bold!  
“I guess we better head back to the apprentices’ den and pick out your nest, we got some time to kill!” Greypaw purred as he herded Firepaw over to a large clump of shady ferns with a tree stump nearby, seeing Dustpaw and the same sandy colored she from earlier staring at him with clear disgust.  
“He’s gonna reek up the whole den.” The she muttered to Dustpaw as he nodded in agreement, Greypaw ignoring them as he actually bumped into Dustpaw on his way in, turning around with a sneer.  
“Oooops, soorr-y.” He mocked as Dustpaw gave a growl at him, Making Firepaw flinch as the two headed inside of the shaded ferns. “Here we are, the Apprentices’ den!” Greypaw purred as he picked his way around clumps of moss with bracken lining, sitting down on a nest tucked away against the wall of the camp.  
“This nest right here is mine, and Ravenpaw is right here next to me.” Greypaw pointed with his tail towards a smaller nest with small tufts of black fur stuck in the bracken here and there. Firepaw only nodded and sniffed a seemingly empty nest tucked in the corner of the den near the two cats. He couldn’t pick up any scents of other cats, but asked Greypaw just to be sure. He didn’t want to get on the bad side of anymore cats.  
“Is this nest open?” He asked as Greypaw trotted over and gave a quick sniff, before nodding to him happily. Firepaw smiled and curled up on the nest of moss, surprised at how soft the nests actually were. They looked incredibly uncomfortable but… They weren’t actually all that bad.  
“Don’t get too comfortable, you should meet the other cats of the clan and we’ll probably have another meeting before long to announce the new deputy.” Greypaw reminded him, Firepaw only nodded as he quickly stood back up and pricked his ears to listen around the camp. The cats were still murmuring amongst themselves about Redtail’s death and Firepaw, making the orange tom nervous again to go back out into the camp. He jumped when Greypaw bumped his head against his shoulder, smiling at him slightly.  
“I meant it when I said I would fight this whole clan to make you stay.” He purred to Firepaw, helping him to calm down as he nodded and smiled back up at Greypaw.  
“Thank you Greypaw.” Firepaw mewed as the two headed back outside the ferns to look around the camp, Dustpaw and the she from before gone now. Greypaw led Firepaw over to where the Nursery was again, watching as the same two kits from earlier as they stared up at Firepaw with big eyes.  
“Are you really a loner?” The small grey she squeaked up at Firepaw as he shuffled on his paws and gave a small, quick nod to the two kits. They both gasped and started growling at Firepaw, making mock swipes at him. “Intruder!” The golden tabby beside her growled as he leaped at Firepaw and clung to his pelt, making him wince as he caught his bad shoulder and dug sharp little claws in his skin. Firepaw wheezed as the she leapt onto his back and he collapsed onto the ground beneath the two squirming kits, hearing Greypaw chuckle from behind him.  
“Glad you’re enjoying this.” Firepaw huffed as he struggled to his feet and shook the two kits off of him, hearing them squeal as he heard them scramble back towards the nursery, before hearing a queen hush the two kits from within the sheltered den. He turned just in time to see a pale tabby queen poke her head out from the nursery to stare at Firepaw.  
“Stay away from my kits.” Was all she hissed before she disappeared back inside of the den, leaving Firepaw confused and shocked at her aggressiveness before Greypaw herded him away from the den.  
“Maybe that was a bad den to hang around… Queens are very protective of their kits, you shouldn’t worry about it too much Firepaw!” Greypaw insisted as he gave a few quick, rough licks to the fur along Firepaw’s shoulder from where the kits had ruffled it climbing onto his back. Firepaw only nodded, trying to ignore the prick of sadness he was feeling at the hostility he was receiving from most of the clan. As if he could read his thoughts, Greypaw started purring and bumped his head against his shoulder in a friendly manner, smiling at him.  
“Don’t worry about it too much. You’ll always have me and Spottedleaf!”


	7. Learning the ropes (and messing that up)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Firepaw's first day out as an apprentice is a simple day, simply gathering moss for the elders. (Even when he isn't supposed to, considering his bad shoulder.) He also gets to meet Ravenpaw formally for the first time, making for a mostly okay first day helping out the clan!
> 
> (un-beta'd)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Early chapter to make up for taking so long to post chapter five. Pretty happy with how this one turned out too, being 4.5k+ words long! Next chapter will be a fun one too!

“Let all cats old enough to hunt, gather for a clan meeting!” Cats quickly swarmed around the highrock excitedly, murmuring amongst themselves as Bluestar sat calmly on top of the rock, the setting sun setting her ablaze, fur tinged in brilliant golds and silvers in the dying light as her gaze swept across the camp. Greypaw shuffled restlessly beside Firepaw as he stared up at the leader in excitement for the new deputy to be announced. Firepaw had learned more about the camp in the time until the new deputy was announced and Greypaw had been in the middle of discussing the clans when the meeting had been called. Spottedleaf sat at the mouth of her den, ears pricked towards Bluestar as she waited for the new deputy to be announced. Firepaw could see her gaze fill with grief as she stared at the fallen figure of Redtail again, before she shook out her fur and stared back towards the leader, as if she was trying to look at professional as possible.

“Today, two clans lost their deputies in a border skirmish,” She started, her voice carrying strongly across the silent clearing as her eyes swept towards the silver-lit figure of Redtail in the middle of the clearing, dipping her head sadly towards the fallen warrior. “We mourn both the death of our own, Redtail, and of Riverclan’s, Oakheart.” She murmured respectively as cats repeated the movement, whispering their respects and dipping their head in respect for the two loyal warriors.

“But, now we must move forward with our clan and choose a new deputy. Someone who is loyal above all else!” Firepaw glanced over as he saw Tigerclaw sink his claws into the sandy ground, his tail swishing and eyes narrowed in expectancy as he waited far too eagerly for the deputy to be announced. Bluestar’s tail shot straight up as she gazed at the stars that started to slowly dot the sky as the sun sank further, before she gazed back to the cats below and her eyes settled on Lionheart. “Lionheart, will you be our new deputy?” She asked quietly as a look of quiet surprise flashed on the golden warriors face before he smiled and dipped his head.

“Absolutely Bluestar.” Bluestar returned the gesture as Firepaw thought saw a brief flash of fury in Tigerclaw’s eyes, before his expression became unreadable again. He raised his head and let out the first earsplitting yowl of Lionheart’s name, surprising Firepaw at just how enthusiastic he was over the new choice of deputy. Firepaw had learned quickly that Tigerclaw was a senior warrior and loyal above all else for his clan, so he was kind of expecting him to be chosen for the role of deputy. He sounded like a good cat! Firepaw jumped as Greypaw excitedly nudged the apprentice, smiling at him with an ear to ear grin.

“Our mentor is deputy!” He whispered excitedly, and Firepaw couldn’t help but laugh a little bit, Tigerclaw and inner monologues being pushed to the back of his mind as he let himself get caught up in the excitement alongside Greypaw. 

“You think he’ll let us off easy from now on?” Firepaw purred in good-humor, before he was knocked over with a hefty swipe from one of the warriors. Looking back, he could see Lionheart smiling at him with a mischievous look on his face.

“Absolutely not you two. I’m gonna work you two to death!” He purred, giving the two apprentices a mock growl as Greypaw hissed and arched his back at the new deputy, lightly batting his face with a sheathed paw. Firepaw gave a ‘mrrow’ of laughter as the two fell to the ground in a scuffle, Lionheart clearly winning before the mentor quickly pinned Greypaw to the ground with one paw.

“Alright you two, break it up! Greypaw’s already injured, and you’re the deputy! Act like it!” The two broke apart in embarrassment as Whitestorm strolled over with a scowl on his face, but amusement lit his eyes up as he glanced between the two of them. “It’s getting late anyways, you two should head back to your den for the night. We’re up and at it early tomorrow to gather moss for the elders!” He purred as Greypaw groaned and pouted, scuffling his paws against the ground while Firepaw stared at him with interest.

“We’ll be helping out the elders?” He asked as the senior warrior nodded to him, making Firepaw smile and wiggle around a little bit. He was going to help the clan already! He gave a quiet ‘oof’ as Greypaw nudged him with a scowl on his face, obviously confused and annoyed by his enthusiasm. 

“It’s not that exciting.” He mumbled before getting lightly cuffed around the ear by Lionheart, shaking his fur and glaring at the sand like it had done him an ancient wrong that could never be repaid.

“Frankly, it’s nice to see Firepaw so eager to help the clan. You should take some notes on behavior Greypaw, because at this rate Firepaw will get fresh-kill before you!” Lionheart meowed with a grin on his face as Greypaw gave him a bewildered look, before he tackled the deputy and the two fell into a squirming heap of fur again, much to Firepaw and Whitestorm’s amusement. Firepaw twitched his ears back when he heard a few small ‘mrrows’ of laughter coming from the medicine den, glancing back to see Spottedleaf watching the two tussle in amusement before she disappeared back into her den.

“Alright, you head back to your nest, I’ll break these two apart.” Whitestorm murmured as he nudged the apprentice towards the ferns of the apprentices’ den, Firepaw trotting away with a smile on his face as he heard Whitestorm pulling the two apart. He heard Greypaw scamper behind him to catch up as he pushed through the shaded ferns to head towards his nest. By the time Firepaw had circled down into his nest, Greypaw had all but leapt into his own and curled up happily, his fur ruffled from the tussle he had with Lionheart, but his eyes shining happily.

“I can’t believe it, your first day out of camp and working as an apprentice and I get to be there with you!” He purred, practically shaking in his nest as he excitedly butted his head against Firepaw’s shoulder, making Firepaw flinch and flush under his fur again at the friendly contact. Before Firepaw could relax against the contact though, Greypaw had pulled back into his own nest, leaving Firepaw to feel strangely disappointed before he curled up properly into his own nest and closed his eyes, tucking his tail over his nose as Greypaw chittered quietly about tomorrow beside the apprentice. Huh, apprentice. He was really a clan cat now.

* * *

 

“Firepaw, Greypaw, wake up!” Firepaw awoke with a snort, his eyes feel heavy and crusted as he looked up at Whitestorm standing impatiently just beyond the ferns of the apprentices’ den, a small scowl on his face. “It’s almost sunrise, let’s get moving! Get the grey lump up too!” Whitestorm vanished back out of the ferns soon after, leaving Firepaw to stretch his legs and part his jaws into a massive yawn as he remembered where he was. It was his first day full day as an apprentice of Thunderclan! And he going out to gather moss for the elders! He sharply prodded Greypaw, before wincing in pain as he flexed his bad shoulder with the movement, remembering how Spottedleaf told him to stay off his leg the entirety of today while treating him and Greypaw yesterday.  _ Oh no! I can’t go help them today!  _ Greypaw started to stir in his nest, sneezing as a feather had lodged itself up his nose, but must’ve seen Firepaw’s panicked face because he was on his feet in an instant.

“What’s wrong? Is it sunhigh already?” Greypaw seemed worried as he looked up at the sky, but it was still brightening and the sun was barely over the horizon as Firepaw shook his head.

“Spottedleaf told me to stay off my leg all of today, remember? I can’t go with you guys to help with the elders!” Firepaw mewed as Greypaw stopped and seemed to remember himself, looking downtrodden at the thought of having to help alone.

“Surely you can still come with us? We’re not doing battle training or hunting after all!” He started to look a little cheerier as Firepaw stopped to think it over, before pushing through the ferns and into the slowly waking camp, the clearing empty except Sandpaw and Dustpaw sitting by the entrance of the camp alongside Lionheart and Whitestorm. There was a mist sitting in the clearing and dew covered every plant and stick in the clearing as Firepaw suppressed a yawn, setting a brisk trot over to the medicine den with Greypaw following right behind him. 

“You two! Where are you going, the moss is this way!” The two apprentices stopped to look over to where Whitestorm and Lionheart sitting by the entrance impatiently, Dustpaw and Sandpaw - He’d learned her named finally from Greypaw last night - talking to each other in a hushed tone, though they looked up when they heard the two warriors calling their names and their faces twisted into a sneer at Firepaw.

“I have to check with Spottedleaf on something, I’ll be right back!” Firepaw promised as he ducked into the shady den, hearing Whitestorm give a snort as Greypaw waited outside for him. He poked his head proper into the den, seeing Spottedleaf still asleep in her nest. Her snores echoed quietly through the den, making Firepaw wince at the thought of waking her up just to annoy her about whether or not he could do something.  _ It’s not anything serious, like Greypaw said! I’ll be fine!  _ Firepaw told himself as he backed out to where Greypaw was waiting, an expectant smile on his face.

“S-she said it was okay. Let’s get moving before Whitestorm shreds us!” He whispered as Greypaw’s face split into a big smile and scampered over to where the two warriors where by the entrance, Firepaw awkwardly limping over to join them as the mist made his shoulder and leg ache horribly. Firepaw prayed Spottedleaf wouldn’t chew him out for this, he’d never heard the end of it from her! 

“Nice leg, kittypet! Think it’ll fall off and he can join the elders’ early?” Sandpaw jeered as Lionheart gave Firepaw a quizzical look at the apprentice’s limping, but said nothing as they made their way through the forest. Sandpaw and Dustpaw hushed with a hiss from Whitestorm, instead glaring at him angrily as they started to pad through the tunnel and outside of camp, low hanging branches dragging pleasantly along Firepaw’s back. He started to wake up more as Lionheart and Greypaw talked in a hushed tone, discussing something together as Firepaw looked around at the looming trees that appeared through the mist, awed by the hush landscape that the forest currently was. This was much different than his dreams or first visit here, the forest seemed so alive when the sun was up!

“We’ll give you a proper tour of the forest when it’s not misty outside, so you don’t trip over brambles or anything of the sort.” Whitestorm informed as they passed the sandy hollow, Firepaw feeling excitement buzz into his paws at the thought of training there. He was training to be an actual warrior of Thunderclan! The excitement made him forget all about his aching shoulder and sprint ahead a little ways excitedly before skidding to a stop in front of a big tree with a hole up in the top. The others caught up not long after, Lionheart purring in amusement at Firepaw’s eagerness.

“This is the Owl tree, aptly named for the owl that nests up in that hole you see up there.” He nodded up to the yawning gap in the bark, making Firepaw’s pelt tingle with excitement again as he started to shuffle around. “We won’t be grabbing the moss from here, but the place is nearby. Stick with us from here on out though, you don’t know the territory well enough to be running off on your own in the mist.” He said as Firepaw only nodded in excitement, letting the two warriors take the lead and fall in step besides Greypaw with a smile on his face and purr rumbling in his throat. Greypaw seemed equally happy and excited, even though just last night he was complaining about having to gather moss all day for the elders. Once they made it up to a bunch of trees near the stream, Firepaw could easily see the green moss growing all over the protruding roots and the base of the trees, making him quiver excitedly. His first task for the clan and he would be helping the elders!

“It’s not that exciting, keep your fur on!” Greypaw purred at Firepaw’s excitement over the simple task, flicking his tail over his nose and sitting down next to Lionheart while Firepaw plopped down beides Whitestorm, looking up at the warrior expectantly.

“Greypaw, you already know how to do this, so you and Lionheart can get started. I’ll show Firepaw what he has to do.” Lionheart and Greypaw only nodded, starting to strip a tree of all the moss lining the roots before he focused back on Whitestorm. “What you need to do is bring your paw up and arch your claws, like this,” He stopped to lift his paw up and show the apprentice, Firepaw nodding and doing the same thing, making him wince again as he felt his shoulder ache once again. He wasn’t sure if Whitestorm noticed or not, but he made no comment as he focused back on the tree. “Then, you bring your claws forward and back like this.” The warrior carefully curved his claws down along the bark, Firepaw watching with wide eyes as he game back with a sizable clump of moss without any bark or twigs in it. The white tom nodded towards the tree, indicating he wanted Firepaw to do the same. He tried to copy the same movement, and he thought he did well, but he came back with only a few scraggly strings of moss and mostly bark. He heard Whitestorm give a ‘mrrow’ of amusement before he plopped his moss down and had Firepaw toss the pathetic excuse of moss he’d pulled up. 

“Make sure you’re arching your claws more, so that they ache when you do, and that they run right against the bark along these grooves you see.” Firepaw practiced a few times, slowly getting better until the two had robbed the tree clean of all it’s moss with a sizable pile between the two of them. Whitestorm admittedly gathered most of it, but Firepaw had also done his part. He puffed his chest proudly as he pulled the last clump of moss free from the tree with only a few small scraps of bark stuck in there, happily plopping it into the pile between them. 

“Greypaw might not know this yet, but this is also a good technique for more than just gathering moss.” Whitestorm mused as the two sifted through the pile of moss to pull out twigs, bark and thorns that might have been tangled into the pile, Firepaw pausing to look at him quizzically. “It’s also a good way to quickly and cleanly kill prey, such as mice and voles. It can also deliver a quick, clean cat to an enemy cat if needed.” He purred as Firepaw’s eye lit up at the knowledge, feeling himself buzz excitedly in his fur. He was not only getting to help the elders, but he learned how to finish off prey and a quick move for enemy cats! Firepaw happily continued to bury his nose through the moss to pull up ay bark or whatnot that might be in there, then once Whitestorm was satisfied the moss was clean he showed Firepaw how to roll the moss up to put under a cat’s chin and carry another roll in their mouth, to make travel easier and quicker. Firepaw sat proudly with a ball of moss in his jaws and another squashed between his chin and his chest as he wobbled up onto his feet with Whitestorm carrying the last of the moss they collected carefully, trotting over to see Lionheart and Greypaw starting to do the same. After the four gathered all their moss, they made a steady trot back to camp, the mist having cleared and Firepaw’s leg aching a lot less after resting his shoulder by the tree.

“Alright you two, head into the elders’ den and start cleaning their nests. Once you’re done with that, you two can grab some prey and take the rest of the day off.” Once back in camp, Lionheart had briefed the two after he and Whitestorm dropped their moss off by the elder’ den for the two to use, before he headed off to sort out patrols, Whitestorm bidding them a quick goodbye before he suddenly stopped.

“Oh, Firepaw? Go see Spottedleaf about your shoulder when you’re done.” Before he briskly set off towards Lionheart to see if he was on patrol, making Firepaw flush in embarrassment before he quickly took his moss into the elders’ den before Greypaw could say anything about it to him.

“Alright, i’ll show you how to make a proper nest.” Greypaw seemed cheery as he dropped the moss near Dappletail, who was still sound asleep. Halftail was gently rasping his tongue over the queen’s back as she slept, only acknowledging the apprentices with a flick of his ear. Smallear was curled up in his nest as he turned to Greypaw and Firepaw with a small smile on his face, standing up and out of his nest to let the two do their work.

“I’ll help you guys with One-eye and Patchpelt, those two lumps wont move for a badger charging in here.” He purred in a raspy voice as Greypaw showed Firepaw how to clear out the nests but save the bracken, and where to find new bracken, before properly patting the new moss down into the nest and where to drag the old moss. Firepaw worked diligently, firmly pressing the moss all the way up against the edges of the bracken as Smallear gave a small nod of approval to the new apprentice. Firepaw had piled all the old moss near the entrance of the den and started to get to work on Dappletail’s nest happily, the she starting to wake up already and smiling as the apprentices worked quietly. By the time they were onto the last nest, Hafltail’s since he insisted he could wait, Smallear and Halftail were telling the apprentice a grand story about three ferocious clans that used to claim the territories.

“Tigerclan was not one to take lightly, they were impressive cats with equally impressive markings, dark stripes rippling across their pelts to help them blend into the shadows for much better stalking abilities.” Smallear rasped as Greypaw listened eagerly, Firepaw only tilting his ears towards the tom as he finally finished Halftail’s nest, the old tom settling down happily among the moss and purring.

“Thank you Firepaw. I think I’ll go back to napping now, so you two can be free to do anything else you wish!” He purred to the two toms as they nodded and dipped their heads respectively to the warriors, ducking out of the den to start gathering up all the old moss they’d been piling up by the entrance, as well as some old bits of bracken.

“Let’s get all of this cleared away. We dump old moss and whatnot behind the nursery, which is where the dirtplace is.” Greypaw nodded to a gap between the nursery and the thick walls of camp, bunching up some old moss and starting to drag it across the clearing to where the dirt place was. Firepaw shivered as he remembered how hostile the queen was yesterday when he’d tried to play with the kids, but gathered up his own bundle of old moss to carry across the clearing. He glanced over to see Dustpaw and Sandpaw making mocking faces at him from across the clearing, snorting and rolling his eyes as he ignored their jibes and continued to work at clearing out the old moss. After dumping two loads, he decided to carry the last of it and let Greypaw get some food early, starting to drag the last of the old bedding across the clearing before stopping and wincing in pain as his shoulder started to ache and burn. He gasped at the pain before grabbing the old bedding again and starting to carry it across the camp, albeit much slower, before an angry screech rang across the clearing and he was being hauled from the moss by his scruff, momentarily churning his paws in the air uselessly before being dumped unceremoniously on the ground to face a very angry Spottedleaf, amber eyes burning with anger. 

“Firepaw! I told you to stay off that leg today!” She snarled, making Firepaw jump and panic slightly as she towered over the apprentice who struggled to come up with a response for why he’d disobeyed her orders. He heard Dustpaw and Sandpaw hissing and spitting at him from the apprentices’ den, and saw Greypaw poke his head up and over the tree stump where he was eating, confused at Spottedleaf’s yelling before she fixed the grey tom with a glare. “You! You get over here too! You can finish your food in a bit!” She hissed, Greypaw’s face one of terror as he glanced at Firepaw and mouthed ‘I thought you said she was okay with you leaving!’ before a warning growl from the tortoiseshell made him scamper over in terror. She whipped around and stalked back into her den, the two apprentices in tow before she sat Firepaw down and immediately started inspecting his shoulder, glancing up every four seconds to glare at Greypaw and then Firepaw. She suddenly pushed one of her paws firmly in the spot where his shoulder met the rest of his body, and gave a loud whine of pain, trying to pull his leg away as she stopped and hissed quietly.

“This is what I was worried about! You’ve made your shoulder worse!” She growled, shuffling through her herb stores as Firepaw stared at the ground in shame, before he noticed a black bundle of fur in the corner of the den staring at him and Greypaw with wide, purple eyes.

“Uh, hello?” The cat didn’t say anything, but shuffled out their nest a little further to reveal a white muzzle and an ugly gash along his side, before Firepaw remembered him as the apprentice who charged into camp yesterday yowling about Redtail being dead. This was Ravenpaw! Spottedleaf glanced over to the apprentice and nudged him to his feet gently, revealing white paws and a sleek, black tail with two white stripes along the base of his tail.

“Ravenpaw, good to see you awake. This is Firepaw, a new apprentice who joined yesterday.” Her voice was unusually soft as the apprentice didn’t say anything, but gave a small nod to Firepaw and cracked him a small smile, shaking as he stood up. “Why don’t you go fetch some prey? It should help you feel better after what happened yesterday.” She murmured as he nodded and wobbled out of the den, stopping by Greypaw to purr and give him a friendly nudge on the shoulder, before tottering out of the den and disappearing into the clearing.

“Don’t mind him being quiet, he’s usually a mute. That’s probably what made Redtail’s death more of a shock when he announced it.” She mused as she finally returned with more of the dark leaves from yesterday and some cobwebs, no longer snapping at the two of them as she crunched the leaves and laid them against his shoulder, wrapping them up with more cobweb to hold them in place before inspecting his back leg as well, pleased to see the wound hadn’t opened back up. “Although, he does talk to me and Greypaw sometimes. I’m sure once he gets used to you he’ll start talking to you as well, you’re a nice cat.” Spottedleaf finished before she glared at Greypaw, her previous anger back.

“You! Did you convince Firepaw to leave when you knew he should’ve stayed in camp?” She demanded, the grey apprentice stammering and shuffling from paw to paw and refusing to meet the torie’s angry gaze before he sighed and gave an embarrassed nod. Spottedleaf sighed angrily before turning back to Firepaw and guiding him to a nest besides Ravenpaw’s, letting him curl up in the nest. “What’s done is done, just don’t do that again. You’re staying in here for the rest of today and tomorrow, alright? I need to keep an eye on that shoulder of yours.” She barely finished what she was saying before Ravenpaw whizzed back into the den in a blur of black fur, quickly curling up into his nest with a squirrel clamped firmly in his jaws as Firepaw picked up the sounds of a clamor in the clearing. Spottedleaf and Greypaw clearly heard it too, as she squinted in suspicion at the noise and poked her head out of the den. A sharp yowl from her silenced the clearing and she disappeared into the clearing for a few moments before returning with a scowl on her face.

“Warriors! Can’t leave my poor patients alone, can they?” She hissed before settling down by Ravenpaw and giving him a couple of soothing licks between the ears, Firepaw watching as his fur started to lie flat again and started to eat the squirrel quietly, purring slightly before Spottedleaf sat back up and looked over to Greypaw. “Has Firepaw eaten yet today?” She asked as Greypaw shook his head, nodding towards the abandoned load of old bedding in the clearing.

“I had only just started eating when you called both of us over. He was taking care of the last of the bedding and was about to eat. Should I fetch him something?” He offered as Spottedleaf nodded, watching the grey tom bound away and out of the den as she turned back towards Firepaw.

“Guess you two get to be denmates sooner. You should be able to go back to apprentice duties after tomorrow, but no promises. Ravenpaw should return after tomorrow as well.” Firepaw felt bad about having to stay in the medicine den for a full day, but noticed Ravenpaw smiling a little at Firepaw. Greypaw returned soon after and pushed his head into the small clearing in the den, two plump looking mice dangling from his jaw. He dropped one in front of Firepaw and the other in front of Spottedleaf, politely dipping his head to the medicine cat before giving Firepaw a friendly lick on the top of his head.

“I’ll stop by tomorrow with more prey for you!” He promised before he backed out of the den with his tail held high in the air, leaving Firepaw feeling oddly warm and fuzzy inside before he settled down to start eating his first piece of prey from the forest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is another personal touch I wanted to add, but making Ravenpaw selectively mute! He only talks to people he's comfortable with (and Tigerclaw, but mostly because the warrior forces him too) to show who he is close to. Obviously, he talks with Greypaw and Spottedleaf, but he also likes to talk to Whitestorm and Lionheart sometimes too.


	8. Important!!!

I needed to make an update before I forget, and I know this is super sudden, but I am abandoning this version of the story after a lot of thinking and rereading of the old chapters. I need to take time to actually sit down and plan out the series more thoroughly, which I failed to do the first time and is one of the major factors behind my irregular posting schedule, but also a lot of inconsistencies I noticed from earlier chapters. It's too glaringly obvious to me and I just have to do an overhaul of all the previous chapters before I post on this story again. (As a new, separate fic of course.)

This will be kept up for archiving purposes, and also I know people probably want to read this still so I don't plan on deleting this anytime soon. I have no clue when I'll start rewriting the chapters, but I'm already working on a vague outline of what happens in the series since I'm planning a massive au that takes place from the beginning of series one to the end of series four in which a lot of shit is changed. I'll explain more of it once I have the outline of the series down, and important characters jotted down, but for now there isn't much I can really say about the series which giving some spoilers (some minor, some major) later in the series.

I am really sorry to those who were excited for further updates on the series, but this isn't permanent abandonment. This is just until I start rewriting chapters, so I should be posting in the near future. I should see you guys soon again in the most basic of basic outlines on the entire series and what happens hopefully by the end of the month!


End file.
